RIP Irv Cross

[Moderator1]

 

[UPChip]

Integral part of one of the first sports memories of my childhood, and I've got to believe something of a trailblazer for Black analysts on sports television.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I'm so sorry. Irv was a damn good defensive back for the Eagles as a player. Funny how he and fellow Eagle DB Tom Brookshier climbed to the top of the CBS ladder.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Brent now is the last one standing from The NFL Today

 

[Matt1735]

Thought he was dead a long time ago

 

[da man]

Thought he was dead a long time ago

It's been hard to tell...

 

[Octave]

Irv was good TV and a good player, too.

 

[garrow]

I have a lot of fond memories of NFL Today and Irv Cross was integral to them. RIP.

 

[User 150927]

Always like Irv. RIP.

 

[Scout]

Brent now is the last one standing from The NFL Today

And he's looking live...

 

[maumann]

Man, I can hear the NFL Today theme in my head right now.

"You're looking live at ..."

Hard to believe that was the grand-daddy of all pre-game shows. Before then, sports broadcasts would start with the lead announcer and color guy doing a quick intro and go right to the opening kickoff. Nobody really thought about "setting the scene" like NFL Today, checking in for a preview on every game and having a studio host and crew discuss and dissect the action. A woman? A bookmaker? A former player?

But it meshed so well and never really felt forced. Everybody knew their role and strengths. Perfect casting, in a way.

Sadly, every pre-game show has morphed into who can wear the most outlandish clothing and outscream the others, but at its peak, NFL Today was the gold standard.

And Irv was class. RIP.

 

[heyabbott]

Integral part of one of the first sports memories of my childhood, and I've got to believe something of a trailblazer for Black analysts on sports television.

That’s what got me, and it was the greatest. Irv Phyllis The Greek and Brent. Then it was Summerall and Brookshire for the game. 12:00 was channel 5 and a Giants show. Chanel 2 12:30 was NFL Today, 1:00 The Giants game. 4:00 was whatever National game there was on the west coast. We were an NFC. We didn’t watch an NBC pregame show for decades, unless the Giants weren’t playing or were playing on .

Irv was great, smart, succinct and without a gimmick. RIP

 

[dixiehack]

Man, I can hear the NFL Today theme in my head right now.

"You're looking live at ..."

Hard to believe that was the grand-daddy of all pre-game shows. Before then, sports broadcasts would start with the lead announcer and color guy doing a quick intro and go right to the opening kickoff. Nobody really thought about "setting the scene" like NFL Today, checking in for a preview on every game and having a studio host and crew discuss and dissect the action. A woman? A bookmaker? A former player?

But it meshed so well and never really felt forced. Everybody knew their role and strengths. Perfect casting, in a way.

Sadly, every pre-game show has morphed into who can wear the most outlandish clothing and outscream the others, but at its peak, NFL Today was the gold standard.

And Irv was class. RIP.

It all felt so fresh then because every single storyline hadn’t been chewed to death in the preceding week. Even in the first days of ESPN it didn’t have full-time access to the highlights and so it wouldn’t spend every weekday obsessing over if the Rams’ left guard had a hangnail.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Damn. I loved Irv. He was all business on NFL Today. I felt like he was the guy that brought the football credibility.

 

[playthrough]

It's been hard to tell...

Brent isn't on VSiN very often anymore, his "My Guys in the Desert" show is hosted by someone else. Maybe he'll pop in tomorrow to talk about Irv.

 

[matt_garth]

Brent isn't on VSiN very often anymore, his "My Guys in the Desert" show is hosted by someone else. Maybe he'll pop in tomorrow to talk about Irv.

 

[micropolitan guy]

He later was the AD at Idaho State, of all places.

 

[UPChip]

He later was the AD at Idaho State, of all places.

And Macalester, a D-III college in St. Paul with an infamously bad football program.

 

[Songbird]

Irv was one of the main football guys from my childhood days.

 

[Slacker]

Irv Cross, pioneering Black sports analyst, dies at 81